Sunday, April 09, 2006

Bird Show - Lightning Ghost

.....Ben Vida is one of those sleepless artists who seems to be everywhere you turn, whether it be as a core member of minimalists Town and Country, playing languid country folk with his brother Adam in Central Falls or as a contributing member of Terminal 4 and Pillow. Bird Show is his own personal sandbox full of buried toys. As with his previous Kranky release, Green Inferno, he creates unstable spaces overlaying various traditions of world music (African, Middle Eastern, Oriental) atop of electric/electronic drones and then wedges in song structures wherever possible. The results are spectacular, from the Konono #1 set free in Radio Shack of “Seeds” and “Beautiful Spring” to several pieces that resemble the trance-folk improvisations of Jackie-O Motherfucker or Sunburned Hand of the Man. While Inferno built up density beginning with a variety of field recordings Lightning Ghost creates its own context, one that is often much breathier despite a multiplicity of layers. An arsenal of percussive instruments such as mbira, qrareb and shakers encircle simple, single-note mantras issued as often by accordion and violin as laptop and synthesizer. Vida’s vocals are another element given more attention here, adding to the incantation or providing a melody.

About Surgery Radio

The roots of Surgery are in an on/air radio show called perMUTATIONS that I did on CHSR-FM 97.9 (Fredericton, NB, Canada) between 1999-2004. It was initially called the Y2K-Mart, but after 1999 that wasn't really funny anymore. Surgery picked up where perMUTATIONS let off, and includes other occasional features like reviews and interviews.

The shows are roughly bi-monthly and concentrate on the soft boundaries of experimental music.

Each show is an hourlong block split into two by "station ID" but with no other DJ intrusion.

The shows and their playlists are archived below in the sidebar. You can also subscribe to the feed further down.

Any questions or requests can be left as comments in the blog, or you can send an email to per_mutations@yahoo.com.